


just a little bloody hysteria

by handschuhmaus



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Darth Bane Trilogy - Drew Karpyshyn
Genre: Dad Bane, Fluff, Gen, I Don't Even Know, Menstruation, first period I guess, sorta hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-01-04 04:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18335972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/handschuhmaus/pseuds/handschuhmaus
Summary: Des's mother died when he was quite young, which has left him with no frame of reference for not panicking when his apprentice wakes to bloody sheets.





	just a little bloody hysteria

**Author's Note:**

> this is another one of those plot bunnies I've had lingering around for oh... years? 
> 
> ~~I haven't reread the Bane trilogy in years either; I did start doing so recently but then got overwhelmed by feelings about young Des... r.i.p.~~

"Um. Bane. I think...I think I might have a problem." Zannah crouched over her only just waking master, looking pale and not altogether well. 

"And what is it?" he would normally have woken before Zannah, but late nights sometimes demanded dues even of a Sith.

"I'm—" she hesitates again and then speaks only in a whisper, "—bleeding. Profusely."

He absently nodded approval of her use of a word recently on her vocabulary list, then abruptly came fully awake upon realizing what she had said.

"Bleeding where?" he asked with sudden concern, all while doing mental calculations on where he might be able to take Zannah for medical attention. 

"Between my legs." Then, after a pause "All over my bedding. I noticed when I went to piss."

Bane, mighty and stoic, blanched. Internal bleeding was no matter for levity.

"Also..." she hesitated, and he wondered why until she continued, "I hurt," and she gestured to her abdomen. 

"We will proceed to medical care, Zannah. This is no test; I do not know yet what may have harmed you." And indeed he didn't. What if she had consumed a dreadful poison? Could a dire injury have escaped their notice somehow? Surely not; they had checked each other for insects only yesterday noon (no need to risk blood-borne disease), and there had been no sign of any injury, let alone a very major bruise or stab wound. There weren't any trees nearby to fall from and no one would or probably even could climb one of the cacti around. And if Zannah had somehow swallowed an object that had done her injury? A meddroid would know far better than Bane.

"I...shouldn't leave a trail of blood," she pointed out. "And I'll need water if we have to travel very far. I could get dehydrated."

Bane scanned the pack contents that comprised most of their possessions, and settled upon a rag he had used to mop sweat from his head while walking here. They had been unable to bring a ship through the dense forest that surrounded this region, but thankfully there was a village that might have medical care there as well. "Tuck this into your garments. Will...is it too bad to walk? I'll get some more water."

"No...Don't think I can eat though." Zannah looked drained, and Bane, for all that it was a weakness, hoped she was not badly injured.

"Well, if need be, I shall carry you," Bane volunteered, as uncharacteristic as it was.

"Thank you," his apprentice said quietly, and then attended to tucking the rag into her clothing while Bane fetched some water from the trickle of a stream near their camp. 

It was a long walk back to the edge of civilization, and Zannah was not up to rushing. Three hours later, Bane hoisted the teen onto his back and completed the remaining mile and a half to town that way after she vomited, bringing up only water and bile. And there wasn't a proper clinic there, only some old woman who had a stock of medicines, both herbal and conventional. Bane wasn't sure if he trusted her, but she did have a medical scanner, if not a droid. 

"You...say you're bleeding?" the old woman asks Zannah, now settled on the couch in the consultation room. There is a faint note of amusement in her voice which Bane finds highly distasteful.

"Yes!" Zannah exclaims, wincing at what seems to be a pain in her abdomen.

"And cramps? I take it you don't have a mother around, an aunt, an older sister? ...Rain, is it? Des, you don't even have a girlfriend?"

"No." Bane said, without enthusiasm. 

"I'll examine and scan to be perfectly sure, but this is probably perfectly normal," the woman said gently. 

He objected to this but tried not to yell too loudly within the clinic. "Normal?! She's bleeding!"

"Well, human beings who have uteruses do this, once they get to a certain stage of puberty, about every month unless they're pregnant. You're old enough, Rain, that I'll tell and show you some of the things to do about it; I don't imagine you want Des in on the examination, nor such a private matter. But I would recommend you go find her something that stays warm, perhaps a heat pack, to help with the cramping. And she can take analgesics. Quite normal." 

Wincing, Bane stepped out, as the woman bent to talk quietly to Zannah, feeling rather embarrassed. He had had no idea! And it sounded dreadful. Not in the sense of being disgusting; he was a Sith after all, but this much mess, nuisance, and pain every month?!

After about twenty minutes, Zannah came out clutching a small paper wrapped parcel. "I had no idea about it either! My mum and aunt didn't talk about it to me." 

Bane did not quite know what to say to this. "...I suppose we'll work out what to do about this. Every month. Does what she gave you help?"

"A little. I want to rest some more, really, Bane." 

"We can go to the ship as soon as I get that medicine and a heat pack for you. Do you want some tea?"

"That would be nice."

And so, instead of the training exercise he had intended, they spent the evening and night on the ship, Bane reading on the long cushioned bench in the ship's main area, and Zannah curled around a heat pack drowsily listening to an audio holoshow next to him.


End file.
